Disposable absorbent structures such as disposable diapers, sanitary napkins and incontinence pads have met with increased commercial acceptance in recent years, primarily because of their convenience. Many different constructions have been proposed and used and some have met with widespread commercial success in spite of certain inadequacies in functional properties.
One of the most serious prior art problems has been the inability to provide a suitable construction that can accept a large void of body fluids and retain a large quantity of body fluids. This is particularly true of the devices which have been developed for the adult incontinent whether the incontinent be active and working or ill and bed-ridden. Various attempts have been made to provide special structures to absorb a large body fluid void. These include U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,024 to H. J. Ralph, U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,602 to H. J. Ralph, U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,798 to H. C. Hokanson and U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,366 to R. L. Johnson. Other attempts have been made to provide structures which contain large quantities of body fluids. These include U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,062 to G. M. Aberson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,102,340 to F. K. Mesek et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,184 to Karami. While these various constructions were designed to assist the adult incontinent and the infant, the problem of providing an overall absorbent structure which will both handle a full volume discharge without leakage and retain the discharge for a reasonable period of time still remains. When the incontinent is an adult, disposable structures generally have not accepted and held a full volume discharge of urine without leakage onto clothing. Similarly, the sanitary napkins known in the art will not necessarily hold a full volume discharge of menstrual fluid. The present invention provides an absorbent structure which may be used as an infant diaper, an adult incontinence device, a sanitary napkin, an incontinence pad, or the like.